Pro- and Anti- Coalition Rallies in Toronto: a City Divided

is it so much to ask for media to be less bias towards their own political opinions? its too bad toronto is so socialist, thats why we're now stuck with david miller and his tax increases, broadened sidewalks in yorkville and a nasty taste in my mouth. thank you, i forgot how wonderful socialism is for everyone.

You know, this is one of the most significant constitutional moments in Canada's history. Would it have been too much for the writer of this entry to actually REPORT on what the gatherings were like, what the people in each were saying, or whether the mood in either camp seemed to be changing? Was there a reason he wanted to be in one more than the other? If you have a strong opinion about the coalition, for or against, TELL US.

This posting is a massive disservice -- it tells us nothing more than an estimated attendance count at each rally, which is basically useless information.

There was a very interesting roundtable at Faculty of Law at UT about this very topic on Friday, featuring Bob Rae among others. It was a public event, lots of media. Where was BlogTO then?

Come on guys, if you want to be taken seriously as an outlet for politics, you need to do better than this. Otherwise, just stick to "Best Wings in Toronto" articles.

Jerrold, that's an incredibly weak cop-out. You did not even attempt to "write for Toronto" here... you took some photos, slapped them up on BlogTO, and claimed to "let the photos speak for themselves". You want to know the difference between journalism and blogging? This is it. You can report without being opinionated. You can inform without being opinionated. You can also do both while being opinionated. The issue is not you finding it difficult to write without bias; the issue is you failing to write anything of consequence at all.

BlogTO has such great potential to be a site where young Torontonians can engage with each other about the issues that affect us all in a modern and fresh way. But the blogging community has an equally important role in helping to stimulate that environment.

I look forward to Matthew's piece, not necessarily because I will agree or disagree with him, but because it holds out the possibility of creating a substantive discussion around an issue that a disturbing number of Canadians, of all political stripes, seem to simply not understand.

Also: someone seriously copied Obama's Progress poster for a pro-Harper sign? So ironic, I bet some hipster is already wearing it as a shirt.

Well said, Joel. I was struggling to express how I felt about this whole mess, you've done it well.

Can't we just chuck a grenade in the middle of parliament and start all over. They all suck bad and none deserve to run our country. I'm so sick of all this partisan bull. If you support either the coalition or the cons you are blindly partisan. I thought the states had it bad a couple of years ago.

two thumbs DOWN for the "yes we can" chant at nathan phillips. has it gotten so bad that we can't even think of our own unique chants?

two thumbs UP for a suprise visit from Feist and Broken Social Scene. pity stephane dion couldn't clap with the beat, although we shouldn't really be surprised (anyone take a vid of that?). layton seemd quite at home, on the other hand.

layton for coalition leader!

The "Yes We Can" and worse, "Yes We Can-ada" I thought were pretty sad to hear. I appreciate the sentiment and message behind them, but it really speaks a lot towards this country's lack of identity.

I have mixed feelings, having been out at both rallies for the better part of today. It's great to see so many people getting out and supporting something they believe in, but some of the arguments and displays today were just embarassing.

Apparently not, the NDP decided a long time ago to copy Obama almost verbatim instead of trying tho think for themselves.

To the commenters who are expressing sentiment along the lines of "they're all incompetent crooks and we should throw them all out": that is a cop out plain and simple. It's the easy and safe position to take because, well, who is going to argue with that?

The problem, in this case, is that if you have been closely following that has been going on, and have a basic understanding of our parliamentary system, then you know that there is one person responsible for this mess. By simply dismissing them all out of hand, you are allowing those who benefit from cynicism, apathy and ignorance to continue to undermine our democracy.

The bottom line is that Harper willfully lost the confidence of the House which left only two options a) coalition b) new election. There simply is no option 'c'. So what would you do if you where in opposition? Force another election, or at least *try* to form a coalition? This is perfectly acceptable and does not violate any tenets of Parliamentary Democracy, in fact it is exactly how our system is designed to work.

The uproar on the part of the right wing is purely partisan in it's underpinnings and they know it.

"is it so much to ask for media to be less bias towards their own political opinions? its too bad toronto is so socialist, thats why we're now stuck with david miller and his tax increases, broadened sidewalks in yorkville and a nasty taste in my mouth. thank you, i forgot how wonderful socialism is for everyone."

Out of curiosity, do you even know anything about Miller's policies beyond recent tax increases?

Hipsters and Harper supporters probably used this:
http://www.dubster.com/obamafy/

Oh, I do apologize for the silly nasty wording, just wanted to keep in line with the silly politics and the silly voting and the silly believing of what any politician promises...meaningless dribble I've heard since birth...and watching them scam us since that time, steal since that time, overpay themselves since that time, while watching us all go to hell, since that time. Nah, that was a lame coalition...routine...typical typical typical. This is a never-ending cycle...a tv rerun of a bad show.

To Daryn:
Since when was paying taxes(that go towards the greater good of our communitys and culture as a whole) and wider sidewalks(that deter un-necessary auto traffic and encourages excersise) become such negative things in our society?
And the media will always be bias, look at who owns them.
Best thing to do, is to rely on media for "entertainment" and for news.. just live life and lets all go outside.
Best,

To James:
Ignatieff too "cocky"? True, but who better to run Harper out of office than someone who's exactly like him?
Catch my drift ;)